The Nation’s Gratitude: World War I and Citizenship Rights in Interwar Romania

247 Pages·2022·11.871 MB·English

by  Maria Bucur

The Nation’s Gratitude
A pioneering work for the history of veterans’ rights in Romania, this study
brings into focus the laws and policies the state developed in response to the
unprecedented human losses in World War I. It features in lively and accessible
language the varied responses of veterans, widows and orphans to those policies.
The analysis emphasizes how ordinary citizens became educated about and used
state institutions in ways that highlight the class, ethnic, religious and gender
norms of the day. The book offers a vivid case study of how disability as a
personal reality for many veterans became a point of policy making, a story that
has seen little scholarly interest despite the enormous populations affected by
these developments. Overall, the monograph shows how, in the postwar European
states, citizenship as engaged practice was shaped by both government policies and
the interpretation a large and varied group of beneficiaries gave to these policies.
The analysis provides insights of great interest to scholars of these themes,
while it offers examples of engaged citizenship useful for an undergraduate and
nonspecialist audience.
Maria Bucur is the John V Hill Professor of History and Gender Studies at Indiana
University. She has published extensively on the modern history of Romania and
the history of gender relations. Her books include Eugenics and Modernization in
Interwar Romania (2002), Gender and War in Twentieth Century Eastern Europe
(2006), Heroes and Victims: Remembering War in Twentieth-Century Romania
(2009), Gendering Modernism. A Historical Reappraisal of the Canon (2017),
The Century of Women: How Women Have Changed the World since 1900 (2018)
and The Birth of Democratic Citizenship: Women and Power in Modern Romania
(2018).
Routledge Histories of Central and Eastern Europe
The nations of Central and Eastern Europe experienced a time of momentous
change in the period following the Second World War. The vast majority were
subject to Communism and central planning while events such as the Hungarian
uprising and Prague Spring stood out as key watershed moments against a distinct
social, cultural and political backcloth. With the fall of the Berlin Wall, German
reunification and the break-up of the Soviet Union, changes from the 1990s
onwards have also been momentous with countries adjusting to various capitalist
realities. The volumes in this series will help shine a light on the experiences of
this key geopolitical zone with many lessons to be learned for the future.
Dissident Legacies of Samizdat Social Media Activism
Unlicensed Print Culture in Poland 1976–1990
Piotr Wciślik
Central Europe Revisited
Why Europe’s Future Will Be Decided in the Region
Emil Brix and Erhard Busek
The Memory of the Second World War in Soviet and Post-Soviet Russia
Edited by David L. Hoffmann
Czechoslovakism
Edited by Adam Hudek, Michal Kopeček, Jan Mervart
Poland in a Colonial World Order
Adjustments and Aspirations, 1918–1939
Piotr Puchalski
The Nation’s Gratitude
World War I and Citizenship Rights in Interwar Romania
Maria Bucur
For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/
Routledge-Histories-of-Central-and-Eastern-Europe/book-series/CEE
The Nation’s Gratitude
World War I and Citizenship Rights in
Interwar Romania
Maria Bucur
First published 2022
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
© 2022 Maria Bucur
The right of Maria Bucur to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Bucur, Maria, 1968– author.
Title: The nation’s gratitude : World War I and citizenship rights in
interwar Romania / Maria Bucur.
Other titles: World War I and citizenship rights in interwar Romania
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2022. |
Series: Routledge histories of Central and Eastern Europe |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2021040582 | ISBN 9780367749781 (hardback) |
ISBN 9780367749798 (paperback) | ISBN 9781003160601 (ebook)
Classification: LCC UB359.R66 B83 2022 | DDC 362.8609498—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021040582
ISBN: 978-0-367-74978-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-74979-8 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-16060-1 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003160601
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
List of figures vi
List of abbreviations vii
Acknowledgments viii
Introduction 1
1 “The nation’s gratitude”: the IOVR laws 17
2 The Gordian knot: government programs and
nongovernment partners 62
3 The veterans: heroes, beggars, fascists 111
4 The widows: “on bended knee I come before you” 145
5 The orphans: the nation’s children 164
6 Epilogue: change and continuity across ideological divides 189
7 Citizenship reframed 203
Bibliography 223
Index 232
Figures
I.1 Decorated Romanian veteran 2
1.1 Queen Marie’s message to the veterans: “Greater Romania,
ardently desired and dreamt by our ancestors, was born from
kneading the blood of those who sacrificed everything with our
sacred soil. Can we forget them?” 18
1.2 Fighters’ Family Organizing Committee 26
1.3 Queen Elisabeth with the Fighters’ Family 27
1.4 Disabled Veteran Decoration 57
2.1 Orthopedic hospital, Cluj 63
2.2 Metropolitan Gurie Stamp, Republic of Moldova 102
2.3 “From the grandstand, Col. Zăvoianu proclaims His Highness as
King of Romania, according to the will of the people” 105
3.1 Retired officers at a mountain retreat 112
3.2 11 April 1930 IOVR Protest; Gendarms with water cannons 127
3.3 Apostol Zamfir on poster for Fire Generation meeting in
Petroşani, 11 November 1936 128
3.4 Retired veteran officers at a congress 131
4.1 Widows and orphans—recipients of donations from the Fighters’
Family 146
5.1 War orphan students swearing allegiance to Apostol Zamfir’s
Fire Generation Front 165
5.2 War orphans from Bessarabia 175
7.1 Poster for Disabled Veterans’ Fundraising 204
Abbreviations
*I use the Romanian acronym for these items to facilitate easy retracing in the
Romanian archives.
*ASCR Association of War Sisters of Charity (Asociaţia surorilor de cari-
tate de război)
*CFR Romanian Railroads (Căile ferate române)
CVC Central Commission for Verification
COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease 2019
FIDAC The Interallied Federation of War Veterans Organizations
(Fédération Interalliée des Anciens Combattants)
GDP gross domestic product
*IOVR National Office for invalids, Orphans and War Widows (Oficiul
naţional pentru invalizi, orfani şi văduve de război)
*IOVFL The General War for Disabled Veterans, Orphans, Widows and
Excombatants (Eforia naţională a invalizilor, orfanilor, văduvelor,
şi foştilor luptători)
LEW Little Entente of Women
NGO nongovernmental organization
NLP National Liberal Party
NPP National Peasant Party
*SIR Society for War Invalids (Societatea invalizii de război)
*SMIR Society of the War Mutilated and Invalids (Societatea mutilaţilor şi
invalizilor de război)
*SONFR National Society of Romanian Orthodox Women (Societatea
ortodoxă naţională a femeilor române)
*SOOR Society for the Protection of War Orphans (Societatea pentru
ocrotirea orfanilor de război)
*UNFL National Union of Ex-Fighters (Uniunea naţională a foştilor
luptători)
*UOR Union of Reserve Officers (Uniunea ofiţerilor de rezervă)
Acknowledgments
Many people provided support for this project, both professionally and personally.
The long list of colleagues and students includes Flavius Solomon, Bogdan Mur-
gescu, Ştefan Bosomitu, Constantin Iordachi, Blasco Sciarrino, Kristen Ghod-
see, Mark Roseman, Julia Roos, Robert Schneider, James Diehl, Emily Greble,
Zach Kelly, Jeff Pennington, Tommy Stephens, Andrei Miroiu, Alexandru Gruian,
Mireille Rădoi, and especially Alex Tipei, the mermaid of Clear Creek. The pro-
fessional staff at the library of the Romanian Academy were always accommo-
dating and kind. The archivists at the Bucharest central offices of the Romanian
National Archives were a community that welcomed and assisted me with utter
professionalism and excellent insight into thorny issues. I especially want to thank
Doina Sima, Robertina Mareş, Veronica Vasilou, Rodica Canae, Elena Cîrjan and
Nina Stoica. Funding for this project was provided by the National Council for
East European and Eurasian Research, the Indiana University Office of the Vice-
President for Research, and a Jack and Julia Wickes grant from the Indiana Uni-
versity history department.
My home away from home are Mihaela and Adi, with their two dogs Lizuca
and Miki. There are no words for how grateful I am for their friendship, gener-
osity, cheer and heavenly garden. I would not have made it through COVID in
Romania without them. And I would not have made it out of Romania without
Alex and Beto. Writing a book during a pandemic was both an escape and a major
challenge. I know that I would not have succeeded without my virtual and fam-
ily pods providing daily support. Thank you, Leah, Lucy, Rob, Jeff, Linda, Bob,
Kate, Janice and Jennifer. And, as before, Danny is my rock. I know now more
than ever who my pandemic copilot is until the end of the world.
Introduction
In the summer of 1977, I found myself sitting next to a silver-haired man in a dark
coat while riding a crowded bus in Moscow. I was nine years old and had never
traveled outside Romania. The left side of his coat was decked in a rainbow of
tresses, medals and ribbons. I sat quietly, fascinated by the array of colors and
symbols, staring furtively at his chest and stealing occasional side glances at his
wrinkled face. I wasn’t sure if he was a famous general, an actor or a crazy old
man dressing up. When we got off the bus, I asked my mother about him, and she
said that he was a veteran from the Great Patriotic War. That explanation didn’t
really clarify things for me. Growing up in Romania in the 1970s, I had never seen
someone like this man, and I wasn’t sure what “veteran” meant.
And yet, I spent most of my days in the home of one. My grandfather had
fought in the same war, but it wasn’t a war anyone in Romania referred to as either
“Great” or “Patriotic.” The medals my grandfather displayed in a case in the liv-
ing room were those he had been awarded by the communist regime for things
he had done since the 1950s and not actions undertaken during World War II.
Nobody in my family ever talked about the experience of the war and especially
about the experiences my grandfather had while serving in the Nazi-allied Roma-
nian armed forces. Nobody I knew talked about these experiences. The history
books did not mention them. Veterans were everywhere, yet neither I nor most of
my contemporaries ever “saw” them. They were invisible.
They remain largely invisible today, with the exception of the post-1989 national
holiday military parades. A specific veterans’ day with the kind of commemorative
rituals observed in every school and many other public institutions in the United
States does not exist in Romania. Veterans and military personnel do not get prior-
ity boarding in any form of public transport. In short, the cult of honoring veterans
is simply not a component of civic culture in Romania. However, in the 1920s vet-
erans came to be regarded as a privileged category of citizens, models of heroism
and patriotism to be honored and emulated. Like many other modern states, after
World War I Romania capitalized on the enormous potential of “the veteran” as a
symbol that unified implicit and explicit aspirations to build legitimacy and mobi-
lize the population toward a set of “patriotic” practices. Veterans embodied heroic
masculinity, sacrifice with honor—the best of what that imaginary community, the
nation, could offer. When a country suffered massive human and economic losses
DOI: 10.4324/9781003160601-1